Though Selene had many consorts, the most famous of them was Endymion, a handsome young mortal. [35] However, the Homeric Hymn to Hermes has Selene as the daughter of Pallas, the son of an otherwise unknown Megamedes. [146], Her and her brother's worship is also attested in Gytheum, a town in Laconia near Sparta, via an inscription (C.I.G. Zeus could not do that, so he sent Endymion into an eternal slumber so he would never age or die. Without Selene giving way to Eos, Helios could not bring the sun back to the world. For other uses, see, Detail of Selene from a Roman sarcophagus, A winged Selene seems to be unique to this. Selene could still see her sleeping love whenever she pleased, but the pressures of time and mortality were taken off her. The most well-known story of Selene is her love of the mortal man Endymion. Many of these old communities followed the lunar calendar and that made the moon a center of their faith and worship in many ways. Their names differed from the other triads of Horae and they were considered to be the personifications of the four seasons itself. Their daughter Eos was the first to appear each day. One of the names given for Selene, and occasionally for an independent personification, was Mene. [143] The idyll opens with the girl ordering her maid to bring potions and magical utensils, followed by an invocation to Selene and Hecate, and finally the rather lengthy spell itself; once she finishes her spell, the girl recounts to Selene of how she met and was betrayed by her lover, and calls upon the goddess to witness and help her, hence the love tail is woven into the love spell. In ancient Greek mythology, Selene, is the Titan goddess of the moon and is said to drive her glowing chariot powered by beautiful white horses across the sky each night. In later eras, she became associated with madness as well. [25], Two other sources also mention her hair. The sky was dark at night and the sun more lethargic than usual. The months had their own personifications as well, who were all born from Selene. Together, they fittingly created three sources of celestial illumination. The fifty daughters of Selene and Endymion mark the fifty lunar months of the four year Olympiad Cycle. Zeus heard of that, and ordered Selene as well as her siblings Helios (Sun) and Eos (Dawn) not to shine, and harvested all of that plant for himself. Because the Greek endyein meant "to dive," the name Endymion ("Diver") at first simply described the process of the setting sun "diving" into the sea. Selene herself, upon discovering this, took her own life. H. G. Evelyn-White; cf. Occasionally Selenes chariot was pulled by oxen or bulls, again differentiating it from the faster vehicle of her brother. While her brother was clad in shining gold, her light was softer and more clear. Gaia, the primordial Titan goddess and grandmother to the Olympian gods and goddesses, was enraged when her children were defeated in the Titanomachy and imprisoned in Tartarus. [27], In late accounts, Selene (like the moon itself) is often described as having horns. "From the panteon of the gods to the Pantheon of Rome" in, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 02:32. [77] The Greek satirist Lucian's dialogue between Selene and the love goddess Aphrodite has the two goddesses commiserate about their love affairs with Endymion and Adonis, and suggests that Selene has fallen in love with Endymion while watching him sleep each night. Her presence is felt in something as simple as the names of the days of the week. Festivals and feasts were determined by the lunar calendar, giving Selene as Mene an important role in the worship of all the gods and goddesses. Sometimes this develops in later worship as they are identified with other deities or gods. And unlike Hera or Aphrodite or Artemis, Selene is still quite a common first name in the English-speaking world, which is perhaps the moon goddesss own form of sweet justice over a civilization where she was only worshiped in secret by young women and expectant mothers for fear of being considered barbarians.. The brother and sister married each other and had three children: Eos (the goddess of the dawn), Helios (the sun god), and Selene (the moon goddess). The Moirai In some traditions the Fates were seen as three aspects of the lunar goddess. According to Hesiods Theogony, her parents were the Titans Hyperion and Theia; her brother was Helios, the sun god (sometimes called her father); her sister was Eos (Dawn). [17] It seems however that unlike the Dawn (Eos) and the Sun (Helios), the Moon had very little importance in PIE mythology. There were other goddesses worshiped by the Greeks who were widely associated with the moon themselves. My work has also been published on Buzzfeed and most recently in Time magazine. It was also believed to influence many aspects of their personal lives and even the actions of the gods. "Not I alone then stray to the Latmian cave, nor do I alone burn with love for fair Endymion; oft times with thoughts of love have I been driven away by thy crafty spells, in order that in the darkness of night thou mightest work thy sorcery at ease, even the deeds dear to thee. [47] Nonnus has Selene and Endymion as the parents of the beautiful Narcissus, although in other accounts, including Ovid's Metamorphoses, Narcissus was the son of Cephissus and Liriope.[48]. The goddess took offense, and sent a gadfly to sting Ampelus' bull. Her appearance matched the night sky she drove through. In Greek mythology, Selene was the Titan goddess of the moon. They were even called by their names, Phoebe and Phoebus respectively, in some sources. [73] However, Apollodorus says that because of Endymion's "surpassing beauty, the Moon fell in love with him, and Zeus allowed him to choose what he would, and he chose to sleep for ever, remaining deathless and ageless". In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene ( / slini /; Greek: pronounced [seln], meaning "Moon" [2]) is the personification of the Moon. There is a magnificent frieze in the Pergamon Altar, now kept at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, which depicts this battle between the Giants and the Olympians. Selenes siblings and Selene herself carried on their fathers legacy by shining light from the heavens upon the earth. Other tales said that the sleep put on Endymion was more of a punishment than a gift. The light that humans saw from earth emanate from them, a legacy of their lustrous father. The most important of Selenes symbols was her moon chariot. The Story of Selene. Her sister Eos was the light of dawn and their brother Helios drew the chariot of the sun across the sky each day. A variation of this symbol was the nimbus, which surrounded her head, depicting the celestial light she bestowed on the world. 68 A75 D-K). A womans fertility was said to be influenced by the cycles of the moon, a belief that gave English the word menses, and under Selenes influence women were said to have an easier time in childbirth than they did during the day. The phases of the moonespecially the new moon and the full moonplayed a central role in the ancient Greeks understanding of time and agriculture. This article was most recently revised and updated by, From Athena to Zeus: Basics of Greek Mythology, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Selene-Greek-and-Roman-mythology, Ancient Origins - Celestial Goddess Selene: The Ancient Greek Goddess of the Moon. Pandia (or Pandia Selene) may have personified the full moon,[130] and an Athenian festival, called the Pandia, usually considered to be a festival for Zeus,[131] was perhaps celebrated on the full moon and may have been associated with Selene. Nonnus, Dionysiaca 12.1ff (who names Helios as the father of the Horae but does not name the mother). Selene was linked to Artemis as well as Hecate; all three were considered lunar goddesses. Did a Lion-Headed Monster Exist in Greek Mythology. [113] Selene and Helios also appear on the North Metopes of the Parthenon, with Selene this time entering the sea on horseback. Selene, the moon goddess, was reputed to have had many children by various fathers. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men. She also had a statue, alongside Helios, in the public marketplace of Elis. There were some witches who people thought could make the moon or the sun disappear from the sky at a specified time, although it is more likely that such people, if they did exist, simply had the ability to predict when an eclipse was going to happen. As time progressed, they merged into one identity. [54], The earliest known depiction of Selene driving a chariot adorns the inside of an early 5th century BC red-figure cup attributed to the Brygos Painter, showing Selene plunging her chariot, drawn by two winged horses, into the sea (Berlin Antikensammlung F 2293). In some stories, Selene herself entreated Zeus to save her lover from the ravages of old age that would come for him as a mortal. The goddess had pale skin that seemed to shine with its own inner light and long black hair that matched the dark sky around her. In another story she was loved by Pan. She drives her moon chariot across the heavens. Selene was one of the daughters of the Titan gods Hyperion and Theia and the sister of the sun god Helios and the goddess of the dawn Eos. 112114; Palagia 2005, Examples, among many others, include sarcophagi in the, This Epigenes has been tentatively identified with, Although usually the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, as in, Online version at Demonax | Hellenic Library, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, "Kaguya Another Chapter for the Lunar Saga", Online version at Harvard University Press, Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, Online version at the Perseus Digital Library, Online version at the Perseus Digital Library (Latin), Classical mythology in western art and literature, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Selene&oldid=1142206020, Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text, Articles having different image on Wikidata and Wikipedia, Pages using sidebar with the child parameter, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Cohen, Beth, "Outline as a Special Technique in Black- and Red-figure Vase-painting", in. [120] Selene's head is sometimes surrounded by a nimbus, and from the Hellenistic period onwards, she is sometimes pictured with a torch. Hurwit, Jeffery M. (2017), "Helios Rising: The Sun, the Moon, and the Sea in the Sculptures of the Parthenon", Jones, Prudence H., "A Goddess Arrives: Nineteenth Century Sources of the New Age Triple Moon Goddess" in. These two goddesses have additional association with Hecate. There are a few different versions of the myth. Selene, daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, was the personification of the moon. [93] Aelian states: "They say that the Lion of Nemea fell from the moon", and quotes Epimenides as saying:[94], For I am sprung from fair-tressed Selene the Moon, who in a fearful shudder shook off the savage lion in Nemea, and brought him forth at the bidding of Queen Hera. 7 (all cited in the scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes Argonautica 4.57); Sappho, frag. [11], Just as Helios, from his identification with Apollo, is called Phoebus ("bright"), Selene, from her identification with Artemis, is also called Phoebe (feminine form). 200 (cited in the scholia on Aristophanes Frogs 1033); Orphica frag. Privacy. The great English Romantic poet John Keats wrote a poem about the mortal, entitled Endymion, with some of the most famous opening lines in the English language. Their daughter Eos was the first to appear each day. Her grandparents are Gaia, (Mother Earth) and Uranus (Father Sky). Nonnus describes how, as Ampelus was riding a bull, he made the mistake of comparing himself to Selene. Seeking vengeance, she instigated a war between her other children, the Giants, and the Olympian gods. Described by Pausanias, it contained statues of Pasipha and Helios. Kapach, A. The chemical element Selenium was named after Selene by Jns Jacob Berzelius, because of the element's similarity to the element tellurium, named for the Earth (Tellus).[156][157]. [31] Mesomedes of Crete calls her (glauk, "silvery grey"). His rites also brought a form of madness about in his followers, who often celebrated under the light of the moon. [81], Philologist Max Mller's interpretation of solar mythology as it related to Selene and Endymion concluded that the myth was a narrativized version of linguistic terminology. Selene was written off and Artemis became the goddess of the moon, hunting, and animals. As Luna, she had temples at Rome on the Aventine and Palatine hills. Zeus slept with the human queen Alcmene, of which encounter Heracles was born. Selene, one of the younger generation of Titans, was also the Greek goddess of the moon. Hill, D. E. "THE THESSALIAN TRICK." [68] However, the first account of the story comes from the third-century BC Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes, which tells of Selene's "mad passion" and her visiting the "fair Endymion" in a cave on Mount Latmus:[69], And the Titanian goddess, the moon, rising from a far land, beheld her [Medea] as she fled distraught, and fiercely exulted over her, and thus spake to her own heart: Selene detail from a sarcophagus, imperial period. Endymion was, depending on the source, a prince in exile or a simple shepherd. There was an Athenian festival named the Pandia, held in honor of Zeus, which was perhaps celebrated on a full moon night. In the most familiar account, Selene first saw the beautiful Endymion as he lay sleeping in a cave on Mount Latmus. Selene personified the moon and was one of the Greek goddesses of the night. Selene was a Titan goddess in Greek mythology, daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. [3] Selene and Artemis were also associated with Hecate and all three were regarded as moon and lunar goddesses, but only Selene was regarded as the personification of the Moon itself. [117] Selene also appears on horseback as part of the Gigantomachy frieze of the Pergamon Altar. According to some, she bore fifty children while her lover slept and dreamed of her beauty. Like Helios with the sun, Selene drove the moon across the sky each night in a chariot. [114] From Pausanias, we learn that Selene and Helios also framed the birth of Aphrodite on the base of the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. Surviving descriptions of Selene's physical appearance and character, apart from those which would apply to the moon itself, are scant. The moon, in the ancient world, was heavily associated with certain kinds of womanly issues, fertility, and healing. This is a relatively late text. Names of the Goddess. While most of the Homeric Hymns were written in the seventh or sixth century BCE, the Homeric Hymn to Selene was probably composed no earlier than the fourth century BCE. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and sister of the sun god Helios and the dawn goddess Eos. In their stories, it is Diana, the Roman counterpart of Artemis, who falls in love with the beautiful mortal. For the people of old, natural phenomena was an important part of their worship. [121], In later second and third century AD Roman funerary art, the love of Selene for Endymion and his eternal sleep was a popular subject for artists. [58] In some later accounts the chariot was drawn by oxen or bulls. Eventually, she became identified with Artemis, goddess of the wilderness, who was sometimes associated with the moon. By all accounts, Selene seemed to have played a major role in this war. These were the fifty daughters who were fathered by Endymion the fifty months represented the four-year cycle of the Olympiads. Selene's Roman name was Lunar. Selene was so enamored of the young man that she left the sky to see him more closely. [75] Cicero seems to make Selene responsible for Endymion's sleep, so that "she might kiss him while sleeping". [141], Selene played an important role in love magic. This is at times accompanied by stars to depict the night sky, but the crescent moon was perhaps the most recognizable of Selenes symbols. Though Selene had many consorts, the most famous of them was Endymion, a handsome young mortal. But unlike other night goddesseslike Nyx, Hecate, and sometimes even ArtemisSelene represented the moon itself. the crescent moon, full moon, and dark moon, as delinted by the divisions of the calendar month).[154]. Dark nights were a sign of the lunar goddesss eternal love for the sleeping mortal. [46], From Pausanias we hear that Selene was supposed to have had fifty daughters, by her lover Endymion, often assumed to represent the fifty lunar months of the Olympiad. [1], Selene was often identified with other goddesses, including Men (also spelled Mene), the divine personification of the lunar month; Bendis, a goddess of Thracian origin; Hecate, a goddess of witchcraft; and (especially in later antiquity) Artemis, the goddess of hunting and wild things. Indeed, it reflects the fascinating way the Greeks observed the . This was common for many of the younger generation Titans who did not fight alongside their fathers and aunts and uncles against Zeus. Selene visited the sleeping Endymion where he lay alone in a cave everyday and had fifty daughters with him, the Menai, the personification of the Greek lunar months. Her brother Helios shone as the sun, while her sister Eos was the goddess of the dawn. Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany. 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